'Abduction' Soundtrack Can't Steal A Good Song, Features Lenny Kravitz, Train & More

By
Kevin Jagernauth
|
The PlaylistSeptember 2, 2011 at 3:46AM

Music supervision is a tricky business. It's a careful balance of working with a filmmaker in choosing songs that will be effective their movie, while in many cases, also ensuring it will be something that will appeal to the intended audience. It's a strange sort of curation but when it works well, everyone is happy. Say what you will about the "Twilight" soundtracks but they have been a savvy blend of tunes that courted both Twihards and those would couldn't care less about the franchise. All of which brings us to "Abduction," Taylor Lautner's first stab at a leading-man action role, and the music chosen for the movie is a pretty bizarre mix, to the say the least.

Music supervision is a tricky business. It's a careful balance of working with a filmmaker in choosing songs that will be effective their movie, while in many cases, also ensuring it will be something that will appeal to the intended audience. It's a strange sort of curation but when it works well, everyone is happy. Say what you will about the "Twilight" soundtracks but they have been a savvy blend of tunes that courted both Twihards and those would couldn't care less about the franchise. All of which brings us to "Abduction," Taylor Lautner's first stab at a leading-man action role, and the music chosen for the movie is a pretty bizarre mix, to the say the least.

It's probably safe to say that "Abduction" is being aimed at fans who came of age with Jacob in the "Twilight" series so we're not quite sure why Mom-approved, FM staple Train and fashion rocker Lenny Kravitz are on the soundtrack -- we can't imagine anyone under 30 listening to those guys in earnest. As for the rest? Well, there is an attempt at Pitchfork-esque relevancy by tossing in Norwegian popstar Oh Land; Blaqk Audio, the electronic side project of AFI (ugh) is also featured; and random bands who probably won't be so "relevant" a year from now like Black Stone Cherry and Cobra Starship. The whole thing feels like a record label sampler where only one of the bands ever manages a career that lasts more than one album.

Anyway, you can check out the tracklist below and judge for yourself. It hits stores on September 20th, and the film follows a few days later, in theaters on September 23rd. [Film Music Reporter]